Berks Alliance Community Forum: Spotlight on GoggleWorks Master Plan: Planning for the Neighborhood

Spotlight on GoggleWorks Master Plan:
Planning for the Neighborhood

Join us to learn about the GoggleWorks’ Master Plan and the community coalition that is creating pathways to artistic exploration, environmental sustainability, and shared prosperity in Reading’s 6th Ward.  The plan envisions using the arts to help revitalize and transform the neighborhood adjacent to the Goggleworks . As one of the nation’s largest arts centers, it is a cultural gem in Berks County.

Their vision includes transforming the existing campus into a “superblock” reimagining that area of the city by engaging and connecting the community through cultural connections, education, art, and food.

The plan includes projects like the GoggleWorks Art Park, creating outdoor spaces, and the GoggleWorks 2, redesigning a second 50,000 sq. ft. factory building on the block. Phase 1 of the Art Park, which will be completed next Spring, will introduce vibrant, accessible outdoor spaces for learning, gathering, and artistic expression. It will feature greenspaces, an outdoor cafe, a performance stage, art demo spaces, and a new restaurant.

GoggleWorks 2 will open in 2025, welcoming the Helping Harvest Community Kitchen as well as Head Start classrooms with the Berks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU). An airbridge will connect the building to GoggleWorks 1, opening 10,000 sq. ft. of new classroom and studio spaces as well as 10,000 square feet of housing for artists and instructors.

But their work extends beyond buildings.  The GoggleWorks is the midst of an 18-month neighborhood planning effort to reimagine the 6th Ward as a thriving, interconnected community. The “GoggleWorks Neighborhood Task Force," a coalition of 6th ward organizations, residents, and businesses, supported by the Wyomissing Foundation and a Newark, New Jersey consulting firm will address critical community needs and foster economic growth and social equity. 

This Spotlight session will explore all of this important work and share the long-term vision that drives the commitment to use the arts as a a catalyst for community empowerment.